Awake (23 page)

Super Andrew rubbed his chin as he studied
him. “You don’t look familiar.”

Kevin shouted, “We’ve been through life and
death together! Remember the time when I drove the car and hit a
street sign, even though I was aiming for the trashcan on the other
side? Or do you remember when we stayed in the movie theater and,
after watching ten films in a row, the projector caught on fire and
Tom tried to put it out with buttered popcorn but you insisted we
use a fire extinguisher? Can’t you remember when we tackled the
purple mist or when I chased after the dragon to help you? Can’t
you remember anything?”

His face scrunched with pain, Super Andrew
fell to his knees, his palms pushing against his temples.
“Kevin…Kevin…no…I know you…but I don’t want to…I don’t want to
go…”

Out of concern, Kevin knelt next to him,
patting him on the back. “Are you okay?”

“I’m Super Andrew…I can’t go back to being
Andrew…”

“Why not? What’s wrong with just being
Andrew?”

Andrew looked at Kevin through his red teary
eyes. “Andrew is weak! Andrew is useless! Andrew can’t do anything!
But I…in this world…in this place…I can do anything! I can help
people. I can beat up villains. But when I’m just Andrew…I can’t do
anything.

“A few years ago, my dad died in a car
accident. I felt so powerless. I always imagined back to that time,
thinking, what if I could’ve saved him? What if I weren’t just a
powerless little kid? What if I could stop time, or move at the
speed of light? I could solve all my problems. I wouldn’t be alone.
I wouldn’t be picked on at school. I wouldn’t be so pathetic. I’d
be confident. I’d be happier.”
“I’m sorry, Andrew, to hear that,” said Kevin solemnly. “But this
place isn’t real. You think you can do everything here, but the
truth is that everything you do here will never amount to anything.
When you’re awake, when you’re alive…that’s what matters! And don’t
forget. Your dad may be gone, but your mom is still out there. And
she’s dying because you’re wasting your time here!

“Even superheroes still have problems! The
problem is not what you don’t have. The problem is you don’t
understand what you do have. You think you’re weak? You might be.
But I don’t care about that. That meant nothing through our journey
together. Did you see how far we got? We were so close to saving
the world. And we’re even closer now to saving it than ever
before!”

Kevin paused to think for a moment. “Look. I
understand that you want this dream to be real. But it will never
be real. Don’t believe in what you want to believe in. Believe in
what’s real—what’s truth. You know the truth…but you need to accept
it.”

At that moment, Andrew stood back up. His
body shrank back to normal. His superhero costume tore right off.
He was looking like his old self again. “I’m sorry for the trouble
I caused. You’re right. I can’t believe how stupid I was to think I
could just live a lie….”

Kevin smiled. “Don’t be sorry. You’re not
the only one to make that mistake. Look at the whole world!” He
placed his hand on Andrew’s head. “Now, close your eyes. I’m going
to open your mind. After I do this, you’ll have more power in this
dream world. Then we’ll split up. I want you to go and help others.
Show them reality. We need a chain reaction. The more people we
help, the easier it’ll be to break this Dream Wave.”

“Have you had enough?” Gasping, Genesis
struggled to stand. The mighty power of transformation had left
him. His body was once again that of a dog’s, frail and feeble
compared to the dragon before him.

“You still have the courage to stand before
me?” hissed Kain wearily. The dragon licked the wounds on his
bloody wing. “I must commend you. You were a worthy opponent.”

Kain took steps toward the yellow Labrador,
and as he did so, Genesis barked at the lizard as loud as he could
in his last act of defiance. Kain lunged his head forward,
stretching his neck all the way out. Genesis’s legs succumbed to
the exhaustion and he tottered over. Lying by the side of the road,
Genesis winced and averted his eyes, believing that he was as good
as dead.

Then the earth shook violently. The sound of
a loud impact reverberated off the buildings and walls. Kain cried
out in a loud, bone-rattling howl.

Genesis glanced up. He saw a part of Kain’s
massive neck on the road. Kain’s head, however, had been smashed
into a gaping hole in the pavement. Genesis scanned above. The
figure of a huge bird remained suspended in the air. Terminus had
finally arrived.

Terminus screeched spiritedly, “I did it!
The dragon is finished! Did you see that, Genesis? One clean blow
to the back of the head! This will be a tale to remember!” Terminus
landed next to Genesis and slapped the dog on the back. “Good work,
old friend! Now you deserve some rest. But first, we’ll need to
treat those wounds. Perhaps—”

His eyes widening, Genesis barked, “Behind
you!”

Terminus twisted his head all the way
around, only to catch a glimpse of a large log-like object swinging
at him. It was the dragon’s tail.
Bam!
Before he could even
flap his wings to take flight, he was pelted away with a powerful
blow, launched right into the window of a tall office building.
From the shattered glass, shards fell like sparkling rain.

“Terminus!” Genesis shouted. “No…”

He gazed at the dragon’s body. Though Kain’s
head was still firmly in the ground, his tail was swinging back and
forth. Kain planted his feet on the street and aggressively yanked
his head out of the crater.

Kain rubbed his head and groaned, “That was
surprising. It’s a good thing my skull is hard.” His cold eyes
wandered across the scene before focusing solely on Genesis. “Now
then, where were we?” He fell silent for a moment. Then he
swallowed. His lips parted broadly, unveiling the horrifying set of
teeth. “Ah, yes,” he said, licking his lips, “I remember. The sweet
taste of revenge.”

- Kindred -

Everything was black. The noise of muffled,
friendly chatter echoed. The air felt familiar and comfortable.
Andrew opened his eyes. It was still dark. Then he noticed he was
staring at something really close. He lifted his head and light
flooded into his pupils, allowing him to see everything around.

Andrew was in the front row of his history
class. His fellow classmates were bunched together in groups,
sitting on desks and chatting amongst themselves. Since his desk
was right by the window, he turned his head left to look outside.
The sunlight was quite bright. He checked his watch. It was 2:35.
In a few minutes school would be over. Andrew rubbed his eyes and
stared blankly at his desk. There were a few drops of water where
his face had been. Drool, he thought. Embarrassed, Andrew snuck a
few stealthy glances left and right before quickly drying the desk
with his shirt.

“Hey Dorky!” A few boys walked up to his
desk. “Dorky the pig! How’s it shaking?” It was Freddie, the local
bully, and his gang of miscreants.

Andrew frowned. “I don’t snort anymore.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Freddie sneered. “Once
a Dorky pig, always a Dorky pig. And it’s not just about snorting.
It’s about gunk. Like that gunk I saw you wiping off your desk. You
had one great big loogie. It was all green and sliiiiimy.”

“It wasn’t phlegm,” Andrew replied. “Are you
really in middle school? Who talks about such things?”

“People like me. Normal people,” Freddie
said snidely. He ran his fingers violently across Andrew’s hair.
“But apparently, not weirdos like you with your nasty, greasy hair
and your ugly glasses.”

“Don’t touch me.” Andrew pushed his hand
away.

“Or you’ll what? Loogie all over me?”

“I’ll tell the teacher on you,” Andrew
started to get up from his seat, but Freddie pushed him back
down.

“The teacher?” Freddie laughed. “He can’t
and won’t do anything!” He spun around and asked his friends, “Did
anyone even see me touch this creep?”

All of Freddie’s friends shook their heads
in reply, snickering.

“See?” Freddie turned back to Andrew and
smiled deviously. “No one saw anything. And who would believe you,
huh? Why would I,” Freddie flicked Andrew’s hair back with his
fingers, “want to touch you, anyway? I wouldn’t.” Freddie snatched
up the backpack on the floor. “Now your book bag, on the other
hand, might be worth touching.” He opened up the bag and searched
inside.

“Stop that,” said Andrew slowly. “Give it
back.”

“Give it back,” Freddie mimicked Andrew’s
voice in a squeaky tone. Then he spat in his normal voice, “Are you
sure you’re in middle school? Because you sound like a little
baby.” Freddie felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He glanced back
and saw Kevin glaring at him. “Hmm? What’s your problem?”

“You’re my problem.” Kevin tightened his
grip on his shoulder.

Freddie shrieked at the sudden sharp pain
and pulled away. “Wha-what? You want to mess with me?”

“No,” said Kevin, gesturing with his thumb
over his shoulder, “but my friend Brad wants to…if you’re up to
it.”

Freddie looked past Kevin to see Brad
leaning by the doorframe, waving playfully back at him with a
bright smile. Standing at six feet, Brad was the giant of the
class. Freddie swallowed loudly.

Freddie shrugged. “Whatever. I have more
important things to do. Maybe some other time.” Acting rather
cheeky, he coolly dropped the backpack and followed his friends
over to the other side of the classroom.

“Thanks Kevin,” said Andrew, beaming.

“No problem,” said Kevin. “Guys like him
will never grow up.” Kevin paused. “So are you coming with me or
not? Did you call up your mom and ask if it was okay?”

Andrew blinked several times. “Where? For
what?”

“Katie invited us over to her house,
remember?”

“Katie did what?”

Kevin chuckled at Andrew’s odd response.
“Why are you acting all surprised?”

“I…can’t really remember…anything from this
morning.”

“Anyway, she’s just throwing a small, little
celebration party for us. You know…for saving the world and
everything. Just the three of us, since Tom can’t make it.”

“Okay,” said Andrew, nodding slowly. “I’ll
come. I don’t need to tell my mom. She works late. I should be home
before she gets back.”

“Cool,” said Kevin. “This should be
fun.”

As they walked out the front door of their
school, Andrew was deep in thought. He started to slowly remember
the battle that transpired a mere few days ago. It was almost like
a dream. During the battle, his life was always on the line. But
now that everything was back to normal, it felt surreal. As they
walked onto the road, Andrew looked up at Kevin. With a slight grin
on his face, Kevin appeared content. Andrew wondered how Kevin felt
about the whole thing. It was really weird, thought Andrew. When
they were thrust into the battle for mankind, Andrew had a
difficult time accepting the insane situation. But now that there
was suddenly peace and normalcy, Andrew had a difficult time
accepting the serenity. But he was glad. He was glad that it was
finally over.

Katie’s house was surprisingly far. Seeing
that she walked to school everyday, Andrew had expected a much
shorter distance. It took them nearly an hour before they reached
her neighborhood. During that time, Andrew studied the streets and
houses as they passed them by. There was no one around. It was
extremely quiet.

Andrew tapped Kevin on the arm. “Do you feel
like something weird is going on?”

Kevin cocked his head. “What do you
mean?”

Andrew hesitated and shrugged. “I don’t
know. There’s something that’s bugging me. Like…I don’t know how to
explain it. Is everything really back to normal? There’s no one in
the street. No…wait…” Andrew closed his eyes for a second. “Now
that I think about it, I haven’t seen a single car on the
road!”

“Is it really that strange?”

“Yeah,” Andrew replied. “I didn’t even see a
school bus leave.”

“We did leave a later than normal,” said
Kevin.

Still worried, Andrew repeated, “We
did…?”

When they arrived at the place, Andrew and
Kevin stood by the sidewalk and gawked at the front. Katie’s home
was ancient and it showed. The roof was falling apart, a few of the
windows were broken, and the bottom of the doors had cracks so
large that mice would have no trouble making an entrance. On top of
that, the rest of the property didn’t seem to be properly tidied.
Though it was nearing the end of winter, there were leaves all over
the driveway. The grass had grown tall enough to encompass large
dogs. The rest of the neighborhood looked nothing like it. The
moment they stepped onto the front lawn, it was like they had
entered another dimension.

“Is this the right place?” asked Andrew.

“Pretty sure it is.”

The front door swung open…and then fell out
unexpectedly, landing loudly upon the wooden porch. Waving, Katie
ran outside to greet them.

“You guys made it!” she said cheerfully.
“So? How do you like my place?”

“It’s…” Andrew tried desperately to think of
nice words. He had great difficulty with it. “It’s…lovely and…nice.
I like it. It’s a really good place. A really, really solid
building.”

“Cut the lies,” snapped Katie, glaring at
him. “Just say it’s terrible.”

“Oh…” Andrew chuckled and broke into a
smile. “It’s terrible—really, really terrible. It’s so ugly, moldy
and broken down and nast—”

Katie slapped Andrew on the cheek, causing
him to stagger backwards. “That’s my house you’re talking about!”
Then she walked back inside her home and gestured for them to come
in.

Kevin looked at Andrew, examined the new
bruise on his face and whistled. “Ouch. I guess she’s back to
normal.”